Official: Windows Phone 7.8 Update due in early 2013

While there has been tremendous speculation that the Windows Phone 7.8 update would be released today, it's not going to happen. According to Terry Myerson, Microsoft's Corporate Vice President for Windows Phone, look for the update in early 2013.

The Windows Phone 7.8 update will bring the current crop of Windows Phone 7.5 devices (Samsung Focus 2, HTC Titan II, Nokia Lumia 900, etc.) as close to Windows Phone 8 as possible. Hardware restrictions prevent our old Windows Phones from making the full jump.

Myerson states,

"We know you’re eager to get the Windows Phone 7.8 update, and we want you to know that we’re working closely with our hardware and carrier partners to get it tested, approved, and rolled out to as many devices as possible in early 2013. As we work to quickly get this in the hands of our loyal users, we’re also striving to deliver a high-quality release and ensure a smooth transition for our widely expanded services."

The 7.8 update will bring the new Start Screen, Lock Screen, accent colors and more to the Windows Phone 7.5 devices, giving them a new feel.

Reader comments

Official: Windows Phone 7.8 Update due in early 2013

Pages

Right. Maybe they are adding even more stuff to it the later it comes. Maybe the lockscreen 3rd party notifications like sms email whatsapp facebook and so on on ability. Or even live lockscreen 3rd party apps to display info on the lockscreen. i even would think that they could add the other stuff too like paypal app payment for 7.8 so we can use paypal too and not only wp8

Hey... they can always release 7.8.1 and then later update to 7.8.2
Its kinda frustrating... waiting for this long... 1 year since HTC Titan... not a single update... still that irritating keyboard issue is present!

I know what you mean i hated this keyboard disapearing. And i was so happy to have it fixed in the end. But have you tried to send an .cab update to your titan? Its worth! I would do it. And i would do it also on a 7.8 update if there was one and if i handt already flashed this rom.

and i wanted to say you about you titan. I would be happy if i had this phone. Is looks really god. I've seen a 7.8 rom on one and it is a real killer device. Ok there are better ones now but i would still buy one. And in germany the price is even not so high a new titan is about 250-300€ thats the half of an lumia 920

WTF? NO! 7.8 RTM'd about 2 weeks ago...they are done with the final build. I in fact have the final build on my Titan right now. It is 7.10.8858...

It is coming later because of this carrier testing bullshit they have to do. Which means, they are picking and choosing which phones get 7.8 and which phones who don't.

Anyway the only thing I see new on the final build is the new WP8 UI, the live icon of Zune is somewhat "cooler" now, a clock hub (HTC phones), the lock screen can now incorporate daily Bing wallpapers, and icons of Office, Xbox Live, and the marketplace have been updated to it's current standard.

There are few customizations that normal people dont see on the first. The live tiles flip now like wp8. I have compare it to the wp7 and it looks faster and better. Some new transitions in the ui are visible too. I also noticed that some screen have now lanscape view which hadnt before on tango. So there a few improvements and i think the ie is better

You'd think with all this time and resources being spent to retool 7, that they could have spent making 8 compatible with single core, lol. I was assuming 7.8 would be easy enough that they'd just throw it out so they can focus on 8 from this point on. Oh well, hope early means early and not late into the first half of the year.

You guys are too funny. Didn't this stuff happen with the previous update? Seems to me that the choices we have go get wp8 wait for the 7.8 gift to be given out or flash. I will continue to enjoy my phone :)

Well, one thing's for sure: the Lumia 800 was my first Windows Phone...and my LAST.

Microsoft can shove their never-coming-updates up that place where the sun doesn't shine. I've never seen a company mistreat so badly the costumers who gave them a chance in the first place. Not even Apple does this and they have the moral fiber of a tree.
Microsoft deserves to die in the phone market. And die painful and slowly.

The only thing I hope is that there's still someone with brains at Nokia that decides to take the company out of this disaster of a partnership and just go to Google and have the Lumias with Android instead.

Oh and that Surface tablet I was planning on getting? Yeah, Microsoft can forget it too.

Amazing how they've managed to loose a client for two products just because of their laziness and greed ('cause, let's face it. They're avoding the 7.8 update to try to make people go buy a more expensive WP8 instead. They know WP 7.8 may very well be a death sentence to the WP8 platform with the prices they're practicing now).

Sorry, I must have missed the the bit where Microsoft promised that you were somehow entitled to free endless updates to your phone. You are the greedy one, you bought a WP7 device and the fact that Microsoft are gifting you 7.8 is a privilege. Does your car get a free engine update every time a new model comes out? You bought a WP7 device, therefore all you should get is updates to WP7 to keep it working.

No. What you missed were the classes where they teached you to READ. Sorry for that, but it's never too late.
Otherwise you would have seen that I didn't asked for anything, apart from Microsoft not being a bunch of a**holes. I don't give a sh*t if they are releasing new updates for WP7 or not. I do, however, when they promisse something and then decide to never fullfil that promisse. The WP7.8 update was announced IN JUNE. Why the hell do they announce an update - which will basically be a makeover, nothing more - if they don't intend to release it until the next year? I'll tell you why. To p*ss people off. Specially since the core-strategy of WP8 is based on the Lumia devices, the fact that they've released them unprepared for the WP8 when it was already being finished. They did it on purpose. People go and buy the Lumias. Then they release WP8 and NEW Lumias. Then they promisse an update for the old ones. And then they endlessly delay said update in an attempt to make people so tired of waiting that they go and blow another 600€ on a new device. That's what pisses me of.
I don't care if they've left WP7.5 where it is. Promising updates that never come, that's what pisses me of. That's why I'm not buying a WP again. Nor the Surface (specially since I bet they'll pull the same trick with the Pro version and new versions after that one. Pretty much like I expect them to come up with a WP9 soon).
If they don't intend to release the update soon, then they should have kept their mouths shut. It's not a "privilege" to get a cosmetic update. I didn't asked for it. They offered it. If they offered it, then release it.
Did you got it this time? Or should I type it again?

Again, I must have missed when they announced it in june and promised you'd have it the week after. A new version was announced, and they are releasing it, it's up to them when they do, and why would you think they'd release this quickly, they've had WP8 to be getting on with. And as they never set a release date for 7.8 initially, how can it have been delayed?
Oh, and as much as I hate the whole grammar nazi thing, you should really learn the difference between the word "Specially" and "Especially". Do so, and you'll come across as less of an uneducated moron.

All the people ragin get a grip. Who seriously thought they were gonna release this a month after WP 8? They are going to wait for anyone who wanted a new device to get one then push the new update. For months I stated here that I wanted the 900 or Titan II bad coming from my Gen 1 device but knew 8 was coming soon. For alot that did upgrade are the ones complaining now.

As Windows Phone 8 hasn't even been announced in Mexico, I'm very eager to get the 7.8 update. But now that the only info about a release date is "early 2013", my patience is running out. Also, there's that rumor about the Optimus 7 not getting WP 7.8... :(

You can, but, there is no release for a custom rom with the final RTM version YET but, they are working on it. Watch the Trophy dev section over on XDA. I am running the early 7.8 rom besides some tiles not able to go back to large, it works great.

I predict that by the time 7.8 is release, there would be much 7.5 phone around to benefit from it. The purpose of ''delaying'' its release is of course is to ensure that 7.8 do not ''block'' the sales of 8 phones in the market. Its that simple.

Why don't these blind Terry Myerson supporters understand that many thousands of us who bought early versions of the windows phone have remained with MS for decades with windows pc and make a big part of MS's value chain? Terry pisses me off with the 7.8 update and I have decided to buy a Mac to replace my ageing PC this month. How long will MS let loyal customers migrate to an increasingly strong competitor' s eco system? For the peanuts it will make by pausing a simple phone update. I hope MS will identify Terry Myerson's incompetence and fires him by early 2013.

uhh... so you're saying we should be fine to trash all of our messages, saved games etc to install a pirated ROM? Right...

My IE has been broken for around a year now (tabs don't work) and I can't reset my phone as I will lose too much data. There's no way I'd install some dodgy ROM to not only lose all my data, but then have possible stability issues.

obviously you haven't been in the development scene lately with WP7...

WP7 roms are stable enough from every rom developer. The development of these roms are nothing like Android/WM development where you have stability issues. I am a rom chef myself over on XDA and running my own personal rom right now.

Anyway, I wouldn't blame you if you didn't flash to a custom rom...as most people wouldn't want to void their warrantys and such...but in the end, it's your choice and its your own device. You can do what you want with it.

I have Vista. Guess what Microsoft wants me to do if I want to have IE10... Or their newest Office... They don't care about their existing customers as much as they care about their prospective ones. This is Wild West "miracle cure balm" type of capitalism. Sooner than later your dissatisfied customers may make your life quite uncomfortable, Microsoft! You are becoming Google's greatest asset! I am planning to switch to Android 4.2 or higher.

Speaking as someone who had a Focus, then a Lumia 900, and now Lumia 920, I can say that the start screen is far and away the biggest improvement of WP8 over WP7. Fast resume is nice (for those apps that have it), email dictation and background navigation are welcome, etc., but the new start screen tile sizes really change the phone for the better. Pinning frequent contacts and groups to the start screen take up so much less space, it's actually useful for once. It looks a lot better, too. Holding the 920 up to the 900 makes the latter seem absolutely ancient in comparison. Easy for me to say, perhaps, but the wait for 7.8 will be worth it.

My name is Jeff and I am a member of the US Customer and Partner Advocacy Team at Microsoft. I am contacting you regarding your recent email to Steve Ballmer regarding your Nokia Lumina 900 and the Windows phone 7 OS Upgrade to 7.8.

Thank you for providing us your feedback regarding the Windows Phone. We are very happy an excited to see that customers such as yourself are anxiously awaiting the 7.8 upgrade. As you read the blogs and articles regarding the 7.8 upgrade, I am sure that with the upgrade you will be able to enjoy the new start screen along with other cool stuff. The number of theme and accent colors are doubled, there are new lock screen features, such as being able to display the Bing picture of the day.

We know that you are very eager to get the Windows Phone 7.8 update. We are working very hard and very closely with our Hardware and Carrier Partners to get the updates tested and approved and rolled out to as many devices as possible in early 2013. While we want to quickly get this in your hands, we are also striving to deliver a high-quality release and ensure a smooth transition for our widely expanded services.

They said to please feel free to reply with any questions... Any suggestions?

..it is not why should you bother to get the 7.8 or to write and make comments about the promised update it is the fact that the update was announced months back and we are still waiting for it. This company said way back we would get uodates still waiting! and now the latest waiting game 7.8

I actually wrote to microsoft saying to them look after your present windows phone purchasers, l got a thank you for your feedback reply...

This would have been a move for me to upgrade my phone to another WP phone but why should l take my hard earned cash and get another phone from them when they have made you wait months for an update which now makes my present phone six months older adding to its already present lifetime...

So that is why l am now also considering another platform, namely androids latest...

i hope the 7.8 update comes with some firmware improvements as well, especially for Lumia 800. Camera performance is very dissapointing for me after using Omnia 7 (old phone). I can't get a decent Macro-Shot, the autofocus acts weird and can't focus right even with 10+ re-shots.. Macros with Omnia7 were just outstanding compared to Lumia800. This can't be that bad!
I hope this will get fixed with some camera-firmware update. I dont think the macro-focus-problem is related to a Hardware-Problem, because many people are having this issue. Also white-balance does not seem work correctly, too.